Ernie Ball Music Man has refreshed its lineup of James Valentine signature guitars, rolling out four classic finishes and “enhanced playability” to make them more comfortable to play for longer.
The Valentine lineup is a funny one, because it tends not to get as much attention as Ernie Ball Music Man’s collaborations with John Petrucci, St. Vincent, Omar Rodríguez-López, and Rabea Massaad, and yet it is a ridiculously well-appointed electric guitar that is designed for all kinds of styles and sounds.
Valentine says this year’s new models make him think of an old Les Paul he had at high-school.
“When I designed the guitar, it came at a good point because I was saying, like, ‘Okay, this one guitar, this is going to get me through everything I need to do,’” says Valentine. “And for the last eight years, this is the only guitar that I’ve played onstage.
“And these new colours, I have wanted this Cherry red for a long time. This was the colour of the guitar I had in high-school, which was a Les Paul Studio, and on all of these colours it feels nice to be going back to what I consider the classic guitar colours.”
There are two models available in the 2024 collection. One is the classic JV configuration, with his custom humbucker-sized single-coil at the bridge position, humbucker at the neck, and a three-way pickup selector switch, volume and tone.
There is a coil-split on the tone knob and a push-push onboard boost on the volume control that can apply up to 20dB – more than enough to make push the front end of your guitar amp and send it into overdrive.
The classic single-coil/humbucker version is offered in Trans Buttermilk and Gloss Black finishes.
And there is a dual-humbucker version, available in Cherry red and Ivory White. This similarly has the onboard gain boost, but this time a five-way blade pickup selector does the job of the coil-tap in giving you those in-between tones.
Both models have solid ash bodies. Depending on your finish, you have the option of a 10” rosewood fingerboard or figured roasted maple. The scale length on these is 25.5”.
Versatility is the name of the game. But what luxury, too. There are roasted figured maple necks as standard (plus the gunstock oil and hand-rubbed wax blend to make them the bee’s knees), stainless steel frets.
The electrics are all insulated to make these super low-noise instruments. There are Schaller locking tuners, a super-solid hardtail bridge.
They would make a formidable option for the jobbing session pro. And, of course, they are priced accordingly at $2,999 street. For more details, head over to Ernie Ball Music Man.
In other Ernie Ball Music Man news, the brand recently expanded its collaboration with former Rage Against The Machine basses Tim Commerford, unveiling a pair of limited edition signature StingRay bass guitars, with active and passive versions.
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